Mr. Speaker, as I said at the beginning, there are some good things in this budget. Not all of it is bad, but it does not take long to get through the good stuff and find out that the bad stuff is so bad it pretty much cancels out the good stuff.
For employment insurance, the extended benefit periods apply to 12 regions in Canada. The Minister of Finance was very careful not to include Quebec when designating those regions. I cannot list them all by heart, but they are in Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, northern Ontario and the Maritimes, New Brunswick, I believe. There is nothing for Quebec. The extensions apply only to regions whose economy has been affected by the oil crisis.
The petroleum economy is not viable. We all know that it is an energy source of the past. Quebec is turning to green energy. Not only is the government still investing in petroleum and handing over compensation for Alberta's losses, but it is also paying for problems related to the oil crisis through changes to employment insurance. That is nice, and I am sure the people who will benefit will be happy. I agree that it is a good measure.
However, it is good only for Canada. Quebec is getting nothing even though we are paying 25% of the cost of the system. Employed and unemployed workers in Quebec pay employment insurance premiums every week. The government is going to use their premiums to compensate regions that are struggling because of the oil crisis. We are dissatisfied and disappointed in this budget.